Deployed NCOs facing a Centralized DA promotion board may think their prospects are bleak when it comes time to updating those records and reviewing their files, since few soldiers actually bring copies of their records to a field environment, updating the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) and other personal records can be difficult.

To assist soldiers aspiring to noncommissioned officer ranks, several senior NCO's who recently served on NCO promotion boards and junior noncommissioned officers who have recently competed for promotion collected their insight to offer the following tips. The tips for promotion are organized by the leadership paradigm of BE-KNOW-DO.

Recommendations on preparing for centralized noncommissioned officer boards.

A soldier’s advance to Specialist is neither automatic nor mandatory.